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3 Week South Island Honeymoon - Itinerary Help!

Hello! We're planning our 3 week honeymoon to New Zealand in March 2014. We originally planned to visit both islands but after much research and reading all of the itineraries and trip reports here, we've decided to just do the South Island. We hate to skip the North but there's just too much to do and not enough time! We don't want to drive huge distances everyday so we've planned our itinerary with 2 nights in most locations, with the exception of a few long driving days.

We're planning to rent a car and bring our tent so we can spend half of our time camping, and stay in hotels/B&B's the other half (this is our honeymoon after all!).

Here's our itinerary so far - any thoughts or suggestions welcome! This version is based on flying into Christchurch then making our way to Marlborough but we were also thinking about flying straight into Blenheim (via Auckland) so we have more time to enjoy the wineries or perhaps do more hiking. Thanks in advance!!

Welcome to the forum scjb1019, and good on you for being realistic in your NZ planning!

First off - do be aware that NZ has strict quarantine regulations and they will want to thoroughly inspect your outdoor gear which will take a bit of time upon arrival. The cleaner it is, the easier clearing quarantine will be. Clean the treads of your hiking boots too.

A few comments:

Unless you have a reason for spending time in Hanmer Springs (which is a mildly interesting small town with hot pools), I suggest you forgo your night there and just visit en route to Blenheim and perhaps spend that night in Kaiakoura instead. This will shorten your drive to Blenheim the next day.

An idea for Picton - take a water taxi into the Marlborough Sounds and spend a night or two at Bay of Many Coves - definitely honeymoon material, although not cheap. From there you can take a water taxi to various points on the Queen Charlotte Track for a day walk - Ship Cove would be my recommendation. You can walk for a few hours, then be recollected by water taxi and taken back to the resort. You can do this from other accommodation in the sounds too or directly from the Picton wharf. There are some nice little B&Bs tucked back there with water access only. I believe camping along the track is an option too.

Where in Abel Tasman do you plan to stay or do you plan to camp along the track? I ask, because IMO Nelson isn't the best base for exploring Abel Tasman. Are you planning one night in Nelson and then moving on closer to the park?

I can suggest some nice hikes around Wanaka if you're interested.

Wanaka and Arrowtown are so close that there's no need to spend nights at both (45 minutes apart).

Regarding Day 17 - you can do a Milford cruise and hike to Key Summit in the same day if you plan well. I think you'll find it a more efficient use of your time if you combine the two. This will prevent driving the same section of road twice in two days and will make Day 18 more doable, as QT is a four hour drive from Te Anau, even longer from The Divide, which is where the Routeburn Track begins.

Thanks Melnq8! Lots of food for thought. Good to know about the quarantine regulations, I had no idea.

We haven't quite figured out our plans for Abel Tasman but we're planning to camp. We heard Nelson has a good craft beer scene so we wanted to spend a night there then make our way to Abel Tasman to camp for 2 nights, and also to break up the drive from Blenheim to Abel.

Hiking suggestions would be great! Do you recommend staying in Wanaka or Arrowtown?

Good idea about Day 17. We were thinking about taking a bus tour from Te Anau to Milford Sound but if we hike to the Key Summit in the same day, I'm assuming we'd have to self-drive?

Wanaka or Arrowtown...Arrowtown is easily accessed from QT, so because you're spending a wee bit of time in QT, I'd go for Wanaka.

Wanaka is at the doorstep of some exceptional tracks in Mt Aspiring Nat'l Park, and believe me, you don't want to miss Mt Aspiring Nat'l park if you can help it. It can be accessed from either Glenorchy or Wanaka.

I assume you can get transport to The Divide, but I'd suggest driving yourself, as you'd then need a second pick-up after your walk, and then a third pick-up after the cruise and there might be timing issues. Most buses will probably be headed back to Te Anau by the time you finish your trek, not continuing on to Milford, but I don't know this for a fact.

There's a carpark at the Divide, and after you finish your trek you can just hop in your car and continue driving to Milford.

We did this very thing one year. We got an early start from Te Anau, drove to The Divide, parked, then walked the Routeburn as far as Lake Howden Campground, at which point we turned back. (It was absolutely gorgeous - took us just under five hours, but we're getting old and have bad knees - 8 miles, about 13 km).

We then continued the drive to Milford, and hopped on the last cruise of the day.

If you're interested in reading that particular trip report, you'll find it here: